Related papers: Modeling deswelling, thermodynamics, structure, an…
Microgels are complex macromolecules. These colloid-sized polymer networks possess internal degrees of freedom and, depending on the polymer(s) they are made of, can acquire a responsiveness to variations of the environment (temperature,…
Microgels are soft colloids that, in virtue of their polymeric nature, can react to external stimuli such as temperature or pH by changing their size. The resulting swelling/deswelling transition can be exploited in fundamental research as…
In the vicinity of their glass transition, dense colloidal suspensions acquire elastic properties over experimental timescales. We investigate the possibility of a visco-elastic flow instability in curved geometry for such materials. To…
Most thermodynamic modeling of hydrogels focused on predicting their final volumes in equilibrium with water, built on Flory's theories for the entropy of mixing and rubber elasticity, and Donnan's equilibrium conditions if polyelectrolyte…
Particle surface chemistry and internal softness are two fundamental parameters in governing the mechanical properties of dense colloidal suspensions, dictating structure and flow, therefore of interest from materials fabrication to…
We explore the influence of particle softness and internal structure on both the bulk and interfacial rheological properties of colloidal suspensions. We probe bulk stresses by conventional rheology, by measuring the flow curves, shear…
We describe the elasticity of compressed microgel suspensions starting from a core--shell model for the single particle. The mechanical properties of the inner core and of the outer corona are described via the mean field Flory theory, and…
Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) abound in cellular regulation. Their interactions are often transitory and highly sensitive to salt concentration and posttranslational modifications. However, little is known about the effect of…
The organization of water molecules and ions between charged mineral surfaces determines the stability of colloidal suspensions and the strength of phase-separated particulate gels. In this article we assemble a density functional that…
Soft colloids are increasingly used as model systems to address fundamental issues such as crystallisation and the glass and jamming transitions. Among the available classes of soft colloids, microgels are emerging as the gold standard.…
A density functional theory for a macroion suspension is examined, where the excess free energy corresponds to the macroion self energy arising from the polarisation of the supporting electrolyte solution. This is treated within a…
Thermoresponsive microgels are one of the most investigated class of soft colloids, thanks to their ability to undergo a Volume Phase Transition (VPT) close to ambient temperature. However, this fundamental phenomenon still lacks a detailed…
Dynamic processes in dispersions of charged spherical particles are of importance both in fundamental science, and in technical and bio-medical applications. There exists a large variety of charged-particles systems, ranging from…
Dense suspensions of soft colloidal particles display a broad range of physical and rheological properties which are still far from being fully understood. To elucidate the role of deformability on colloidal flow, we employ computer…
We exploit the controlled drying of millimeter-sized gel beads to investigate isotropic compression of colloidal fractal gels. Using a custom dynamic light scattering setup, we demonstrate that stresses imposed by drying on the bead surface…
Soft colloids allow to explore high density states well beyond random close packing. An important open question is whether softness controls the dynamics under these dense conditions. While experimental works reported conflicting results,…
We study the self-assembly of colloidal microgel particles at a quasi-two-dimensional air-water interface of a drying droplet. Using bright-field microscopy, we demonstrate that increasing particle elasticity drives interfacial organization…
Long, shallow microchannels embedded in thick soft materials are widely used in microfluidic devices for lab-on-a-chip applications. However, the bulging effect caused by fluid--structure interactions between the internal viscous flow and…
The shear rheology of dense colloidal and granular suspensions is strongly nonlinear, as these materials exhibit shear-thinning and shear-thickening, depending on multiple physical parameters. We numerically study the rheology of a simple…
We present computer simulations of a realistic model of microgels. Unlike the regular network frameworks usually assumed in the simulation literature, we model and simulate a realistic and efficient synthesis route, mimicking cross-linking…